an online companion, tracy, introduced me to this website...a collection of polaroids taken by a gentleman named jamie livingston every day for the span of 18 years. intrigued by something i love dearly, i dove right in without hesitation. the things i found there were beyond words. beyond photographs. it was a collage of beautiful moments, large and small, stringing together a full and magical life. a big reminder of all the small things we take for granted. the first page is doused in smiling faces, youth and joy are painted clearly. you get a sense of these people, their likes and dislikes, interests, hobbies, growing relationships.

i looked on.

i found what this stranger saw on the day i was born, the day my sister was born, my brother.



(mysteriously, however, there is no photograph on the day that tyler was born on june 9th, 1983.)

you watch these people grow. evolve. share. bits of information are picked up and you learn that this gentleman was a filmmaker, a musician, and a circus performer.



you see as they get older, fall in love, marry, have children. day to day activities, bedrooms, bathtubs, smiles and tears, cuts, bruises, hospital visits. the last year of the series feels less joyful, more quiet. it comes to a close on the photographer's 41st birthday when he passes away from cancer, surrounded by friends and family that you have also come to know. i am forever changed by this stranger and his life, a small gift.


it begs for me to remember that in life there is joy...


...and there is sorrow.


there is friendship.


there is dancing...


...and there is music.


it is made of big moments...


...and little moments.


there is laughter.


and there is love,


there is love,


there is love.

for more on this story, please go here.